in the boonies
The White's
Hi Suzy,
God, I know how you feel. My husband & I both grew up in Charlotte, not the
biggest but still holds it's own. Now we live in a VERY rural area & have
to drive 25-30 minutes to NEAREST store (only 1 grocery store in town) and
40-45 minutes to Walmart, library, YMCA, etc. My husband got the job he's
in now & I was finally able to stay home all the time, so we jumped at the
chance.
We are SO TIRED of wasting whole days just to go to the library or to the
store. I can't find any time to go that we don't have to eat out because
we're gone so long. My husband also drives at least twice a week to MBA
classes aprx 1.5 hrs one way.
We really like the rural part of where we live. I have no fears sending the
kids out to play by themselves (7 & 3). I'm never afraid and many times
forget to lock my door. BUT, I think I can get this all somewhat closer to
real civilization. Even the town we go to for Walmart (Martinsville VA) is
too small...we usually drive to Winston for real shopping and all our
doctors are either in Winston or still in Charlotte. Luckily my family
lives just north of Charlotte so we are able to "get to town" fairly often.
I know it's cheaper in the boonies, but think of all the gas, the tires on
your car, the TIME you spend commuting, the higher your odds of having an
accident just because you're in your car so much more.
I actually grew up just north of the Charlotte city limits but went to
Charlotte city schools. My grandpa had cows, we had horses & lots of
animals...yet we were about 10 minutes from downtown Charlotte. Now I know
that things have changed a lot in the last 35 years, but I contend that we
can find a place closer to a city, yet still offers all the advantages of
rural life.....it just may not be quite as cheap as the boonies!
Hopefully we will find our dream place this summer (or sooner) as my husband
will be finishing his MBA & looking for new opportunities. Hopefully your
family will find one too!
Cindy
God, I know how you feel. My husband & I both grew up in Charlotte, not the
biggest but still holds it's own. Now we live in a VERY rural area & have
to drive 25-30 minutes to NEAREST store (only 1 grocery store in town) and
40-45 minutes to Walmart, library, YMCA, etc. My husband got the job he's
in now & I was finally able to stay home all the time, so we jumped at the
chance.
We are SO TIRED of wasting whole days just to go to the library or to the
store. I can't find any time to go that we don't have to eat out because
we're gone so long. My husband also drives at least twice a week to MBA
classes aprx 1.5 hrs one way.
We really like the rural part of where we live. I have no fears sending the
kids out to play by themselves (7 & 3). I'm never afraid and many times
forget to lock my door. BUT, I think I can get this all somewhat closer to
real civilization. Even the town we go to for Walmart (Martinsville VA) is
too small...we usually drive to Winston for real shopping and all our
doctors are either in Winston or still in Charlotte. Luckily my family
lives just north of Charlotte so we are able to "get to town" fairly often.
I know it's cheaper in the boonies, but think of all the gas, the tires on
your car, the TIME you spend commuting, the higher your odds of having an
accident just because you're in your car so much more.
I actually grew up just north of the Charlotte city limits but went to
Charlotte city schools. My grandpa had cows, we had horses & lots of
animals...yet we were about 10 minutes from downtown Charlotte. Now I know
that things have changed a lot in the last 35 years, but I contend that we
can find a place closer to a city, yet still offers all the advantages of
rural life.....it just may not be quite as cheap as the boonies!
Hopefully we will find our dream place this summer (or sooner) as my husband
will be finishing his MBA & looking for new opportunities. Hopefully your
family will find one too!
Cindy
Lynda
I LOVE SF and Portland is my second fav, I mean, ya gotta love a city where
the local Burger King has an indoor antique carousel for the kidlets to
ride <g> I can't "do" the other big cities, although it was fun hitting
the Garden in NY for the horseshows as a kid but that was because they
block off the streets and you can take the horse out there and wander
around <g> Otherwise forget it!
Lynda
----------
From: "The White's" <jwwjr@...>
the local Burger King has an indoor antique carousel for the kidlets to
ride <g> I can't "do" the other big cities, although it was fun hitting
the Garden in NY for the horseshows as a kid but that was because they
block off the streets and you can take the horse out there and wander
around <g> Otherwise forget it!
Lynda
----------
From: "The White's" <jwwjr@...>
>prestigious
> I agree with Lynda about how time is relative. We used to live about 30
> miles north of Charlotte & it took me 30-40 minutes to get to work in
> downtown Charlotte. BUT, one of my co-workers lived on a more
> street in the city limits, only 10 miles away, and it took him almost anoutside
> hour to get to work....all due to the traffic.
>
> Luckily, in this part of the country, there are places to live just
> of city limits, where a commute might be 15-20 minutes, yet the city isI'm
> large enough to offer all the ammenities like the arts and dining and
> shopping and parks and real libraries and the Y and soccer teams etc.
> sure that if we lived closer to a LARGE city, like SF, that would be ato
> problem. But Charlotte is the biggest thing around here, until you get
> Atlanta or DC. All these ammenities can be found in the smaller citieslike
> Winston Salem, Greensboro, Asheville where there are still outlying areas
> that are rural. Even 20 minutes from Charlotte is rural.
>
> As everything, it's all in your personal experience & perspective. But I
> would love SF, I just know I would!
> Cindy
>
>
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The White's
I agree with Lynda about how time is relative. We used to live about 30
miles north of Charlotte & it took me 30-40 minutes to get to work in
downtown Charlotte. BUT, one of my co-workers lived on a more prestigious
street in the city limits, only 10 miles away, and it took him almost an
hour to get to work....all due to the traffic.
Luckily, in this part of the country, there are places to live just outside
of city limits, where a commute might be 15-20 minutes, yet the city is
large enough to offer all the ammenities like the arts and dining and
shopping and parks and real libraries and the Y and soccer teams etc. I'm
sure that if we lived closer to a LARGE city, like SF, that would be a
problem. But Charlotte is the biggest thing around here, until you get to
Atlanta or DC. All these ammenities can be found in the smaller cities like
Winston Salem, Greensboro, Asheville where there are still outlying areas
that are rural. Even 20 minutes from Charlotte is rural.
As everything, it's all in your personal experience & perspective. But I
would love SF, I just know I would!
Cindy
miles north of Charlotte & it took me 30-40 minutes to get to work in
downtown Charlotte. BUT, one of my co-workers lived on a more prestigious
street in the city limits, only 10 miles away, and it took him almost an
hour to get to work....all due to the traffic.
Luckily, in this part of the country, there are places to live just outside
of city limits, where a commute might be 15-20 minutes, yet the city is
large enough to offer all the ammenities like the arts and dining and
shopping and parks and real libraries and the Y and soccer teams etc. I'm
sure that if we lived closer to a LARGE city, like SF, that would be a
problem. But Charlotte is the biggest thing around here, until you get to
Atlanta or DC. All these ammenities can be found in the smaller cities like
Winston Salem, Greensboro, Asheville where there are still outlying areas
that are rural. Even 20 minutes from Charlotte is rural.
As everything, it's all in your personal experience & perspective. But I
would love SF, I just know I would!
Cindy